Process to construct 334 school buildings begins in Herat

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): The construction process of as many as 334 school buildings kicked off in western Herat province on Tuesday by laying the foundation stone for a new school building, officials said.

Herat governor Abdul Qayum Rahimi, inaugurating the construction process, said that the government started the project “Iqra” under the framework of Citizen Charter program to construct a total of 6,000 schools across the country.

The governor said the proposed school buildings in Herat province would cost 1.3 billion afghanis over the next two years.

“These structures would help resolve problems of next generations and we hope the education system would work improve quality instead of quantity,” he said.

Mohammad Seddiqi, provincial Rural Rehabilitation and Development director, said that most of the schools would be constructed in districts and remote areas of the province.

In the first phase, he said, 19 schools would be constructed in Karkh, Zinda Jan, Farsi, Pashton Zarghon, Obe and Kahsan districts and initial works and designs of another 100 schools had also been completed and construction on them would be started in near future.

“We would build and put into service 334 schools over the next two years,” he said.

Rohullah Azhad, Heart education director, said 1,100 schools existed in the province but 50 of them lacked buildings and their students were taught in the open or tents.

Residents of Herat province asked the local administration to closely watch construction process of the schools in order to ensure they were built in a standard and timely manner.